Sara & Sofia advent calendar
by Fleppy85
Summary: Set in season 13, Sara & Sofia talk after every episode about what happened. And because season 13 had only 21 episodes, there'll be another story in four parts hidden in the calendar.
1. Chapter 1

**1. Karma to burn**

"Hey."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Sara looked up surprised. She had no idea the new spot she found was a well known place. As far as she knew the bar only opened a few days ago, how could the whole department know about it?

"Having a drink. What do you usually do in a bar? Mind?" Sofia pointed to the stool next to Sara.

"Who am I to tell the Deputy Chief where to sit or not to sit?"

"You don't care about ranks, Sara." Sofia sat down. "I take a beer." She said to the bartender, who approached her. "She takes another one too. My treat."

"Thanks."

"I heard about what happened to DB's granddaughter. And Nick. And Ecklie."

"Of course you did, you're the Deputy Chief. The Sheriff was very, very mad."

"Well, she has all reasons to be mad. How is everybody? I heard Nick took a beating, he more or less asked for. Did he really quit?"

"For a few hours, yes."

"How did you make him change his mind?"

"Who said I made him change his mind?"

"If anybody could make him change his mind, it's you. You're friends, when you tell him to get himself together, get back to the team, he does it."

"I felt like grabbing him by the neck and slap his head to the wall until he was sober and use his brain again. I don't think I've ever been this mad with him than in that moment. It's one thing to quit, it's another thing to act like an idiot."

"We all have our weak moments, when we don't use our head to think. You left the lab too."

"And I came back when I got my head clean. If I had had another choice back then I had stayed. Leaving Vegas was hard. The lab is home, they're my family."

"Even Ecklie?"

"Even Ecklie." Sara laughed. "He's the stepfather."

"I think he changed to better since Morgan is here. And I'm glad he'll be fine."

"Me too. Sometimes I wonder why it feels that they're all after our lives. Are we a kind of prey? Why do they get after the family too? DB's granddaughter."

"It's the weak spot everybody has, the family. You want to get to somebody, you take away what they love most. Their family, their children. In our job you're better off without a family or children."

"Is that why you're not a married mother?" Sara wanted her voice to sound like she was mocking the blonde, but she couldn't. It was a serious topic and there was a lot of truth in what Sofia said. A lot of sad truth.

"Did I not mention it's also very difficult to find somebody, who has no problems with the work hours we pull? And is willing to put up with the thought of his spouse could be killed whenever she leaves for work? It's safer as a deputy chief, I spend most of my time in an office, but it doesn't make it safe."

"No place is really safe. We put our lives on the line to make the world safer, but it will never be safe."

"No, probably not." Sofia finished her beer. "Well, I leave you to your well deserved quiet after work drink. Nice talking to you, Sara."

"Likewise." Sara hesitated for a second. "Sofia?"

"Yeah?"

"Care to have a drink here more often? Like once a week?"

"Sounds like a good idea. I see you next week then, stay safe Sara."

"You too, Sofia. You too."


	2. Chapter 2

**2. Code Blue Plate Special**

A new beer was placed in front of Sara and a hand touched her shoulder. She flinched more than she liked but relaxed immediately when she saw it was Sofia, who stood next to her.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you. I called out your name, but you didn't hear me."

"I was…somewhere else. Sorry. How are you?"

"Better than you are. You look tensed."

"That's a nice way to say I look like shit."

"You knew a lot of people, who died in the diner."

"Yes, I did."

"You know." Sofia sipped on her beer. "There was a time when I was jealous, even a little bit mad or sad, that you guys never took me there when you went there after shift Today I'm glad you didn't. To hear eight people died is bad, to know most of the people, even when you knew them only briefly, is harder. So by not taking me there, you let me miss out a lot of pain."

"Which doesn't help a lot because you feel sorry for us."

"I do."

Sara shook her head. There were so many things going through her mind, so many thoughts. "I knew Victor for so many years, over twelve. He worked hard, he did what was best for his customer, always made your stay pleasant. I'd have never picked him as somebody, who plans a killing. Who pulls the trigger and kills two people, one he worked with for years."

"We can't look into the head of people."

"No, we can't. We think we know somebody and one day we realize, we didn't know him at all. Maybe we never knew him, maybe he changed and we didn't notice it. I mean, people get married and divorce, claiming they don't know their spouse anymore. It's still the same person they married and yet…I was so sure Basderic killed them. In his twisted mind, he is in love with Edie. Was in love with her. Everything pointed in his direction, he lied to us, he made her life hell…if he hadn't been there, Edie would be still alive. Because of him she stayed longer."

"I don't know the case, I don't know him, but you have to remember one thing: he might have been the reason why she stayed, he might have made her life hell, he might have been a stalker, but he didn't pull the trigger. He didn't shoot her nor did he shoot one of the other victims. No." Sofia interrupted Sara before she could interrupt the blonde. "I don't say he's an innocent man, but he didn't kill anybody in the diner. It was Victor, who ordered the killings and who pulled the trigger instead of helping Edie."

Sara swallowed hard. She knew Sofia was right, Basderic didn't kill anybody in the diner. He was no saint, he was a stalker, but…he didn't pull the trigger this time, Sofia got that right.

"I hate him."

"Some people get to us, some people push our buttons."

"He does. He lied, he killed a man. The court said it was self-defense, I don't buy it. I'm sure he pushed his buttons to, it was his plan that he came after him."

"You can have a look into the case, can try to reopen it, but until a judge says different, he's an innocent man. At least when it comes to murder. I know it's not what you want to hear."

"You're not here to tell me what I want to hear."

"No, I'm here to have a beer with you and talk if you feel like it."

"I think today I'd like to have beer with you without talking."

"Then we'll drink and say nothing at all." The blonde squeezed the hand of the brunette. Talking about bothered you could help, but sometimes just having quiet company helped most.


	3. Chapter 3

**3. Wild Flowers**

Sara found Sofia waiting in the bar. Until this very moment she hadn't been sure if it was a good idea to see the blonde today. Too many things were going on. The last case brought back some memories and the present was…well she had better days.

"Happy anniversary."

"Thanks." The brunette made a grimace. That was the what bothered her at the moment. Her wedding anniversary and she didn't manage to talk to her own husband. She had no idea if it was him forgetting about their day or the time difference or…anything else. All she knew was, it had been a while since she talked to Grissom and she missed him like crazy.

"Why is Grissom not here? If you don't mind me asking."

"Actually, I'd rather not talk about him. I can't give you any answers anyway because I don't have them. I'm just as clueless as you are."

"Oh." Embarrassed the blonde lowered her eyes. "Sorry."

"Not your fault."

"Anything I can do?"

"How about order another beer? I'm thirsty."

"My treat." Sofia ordered two beers. "You caught a predator today."

"It was mostly Morgan's work. She made the girl trust her, when she was gone, she kept pushing until they found her."

"She's pretty good. Being a CSI must run in the family."

"Like being a cop runs in your family? You outrank your mother."

"We don't talk about that, Captain Curtis is not very good in taking orders from her daughter."

"I can imagine that. Family can be hell."

"Your case proved it today."

"Not only the case." Sara sighed. "Sorry."

"If you want to talk about it, we can talk about it. I can see your long distance relationship is everything but easy. Sara, why don't you take a few days off and go to…wherever Grissom is right now?"

"Because…I don't know where he is. We haven't spoken in a while. Can we change the topic? Please."

"Whatever you want." Sofia was sure, not talking about the problems with Grissom didn't change them, but she could also understand, when she wasn't the right person to talk to. Even when they met here for a little chat, there was a big difference between talking over a case or your marriage problems.

"Do you know what happens to the girl?"

"Child service has taken her to a foster family. She'll be taken care off."

"I hope so." Sara knew the life in a foster family did not always was great. It was not likely it was worse than what happened to her already, but…you never knew what lay ahead you.

"Another topic we should skip?" Sofia asked.

"Yes. Sorry, I'm not a good company today."

"Sara, you're always good company. How about we talk about something completely different?"

"Like what? It's not like we share a lot of things. We were never that close."

"You're right, but we are about to change it. Which is good. It's never too late to change things. Life changes all the time, if you try to stay where you are, you lose life."

"And when you lose life, you lose what's most important to you." Sara took a deep sip of her beer. "Okay, let's talk about sports, how is that?"

"Something I can talk about all night long." Sofia laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

**4. It was a very good year**

"Bourbon? Is it a good or bad sign?"

"It's a sign of style, Deputy Chief Curtis. Nice press conference."

"Thanks. I heard you solved an old crime." The blonde signed the bartender she wanted the same Sara had. If they were about to have a meeting in style, she could also order some bourbon and take a taxi home.

"We solved a resent crime and an old mystery."

"Taking somebody's identity is a crime."

"I know."

"How is Greg doing?"

"He will okay. Eventually. How do you know it was personal for him?"

"I'm the Deputy Chief, I know what you guys are doing. It might not be my job, but that doesn't mean I don't have an eye on you. We worked together, you remember, back in the days. When Greg's hair was crazy and you were bitchy."

"Yeah, when you were an acting supervisor before you became an ordinary CSI. And then you ran away, didn't fight your way back to your old position."

"I didn't run, it was never my decision to become a CSI, it was an order. I wanted to be a cop, it was what I was trained for. I fought to get what I wanted and I got it."

"You were trained to be a CSI too."

"Yes, I've got many talents, some I like more than others. You guys solve crimes, I wanted to catch bad guys."

"It goes hand in hand."

"It does. A cop is nothing without a good CSI and the other way around. What about you? Plan to climb up the ladder? Become a supervisor?"

"No, I'm fine where I am. Somebody has to do the leg work."

"As a supervisor you have to make decisions your friends might not like. It's harder to be friends with your boss than with your colleague. If you go to Greg later, you go there as a friend, you're eye to eye. If you'd go there as his supervisor, the bitter taste of supervision would be around, no matter how hard the both of you tried to ignore it. A career doesn't have to destroy a friendship, but it can make it more difficult."

"My life is difficult enough."

"And your friendship to Greg is worth more than a boost in money."

"It is. But I think Morgan looks after him, she did talk to him at the end of the shift."

"The way you say it, it sounds like there's more to it than a talk between colleagues."

"I don't know, there might be something between them."

"Do you approve?"

"It's not up to me to approve, they're both adults and I'm the last one to judge about love relationships at your work place." She smiled. "If they make each other happy it's good. If they're better off as friends, I hope they stay friends. Love makes things complicated. Sometimes."

"True." Sofia wanted to ask about Grissom, how he was. She couldn't remember the last time he was in Vegas. Not that she kept track of where he was, but she was sure, if he had been around recently, she had heard about it from Jim.

"How about we finish our drink and go over to Greg's? Maybe he needs a drink with style too. Together with two friends." Sofia suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." The brunette agreed. Maybe some company was exactly what Greg needed now.


	5. Chapter 5

**5. Play dead**

"Did I ever mention I hate Halloween." Sofia pushed an empty glass aside.

"Really? I picked you as a party person, who loves celebrating every occasion." The brunette smirked. "The one, who wants to come to work dressed in a costum."

"The party years are long over. I'm way too old to walk around and ask for candies. Or go to the clubs and dance with people half my age."

"You're not that old, Sofia."

"Thanks. How were your days off?"

"Good, I got away, to the mountains, no signs of Halloween. When I came back this afternoon I found out, somebody threw eggs on the window of my kitchen. Not a nice surprise."

"Bad kids, shall I put a broadcast on them and have them arrested?`"

"You're making fun of me. Have you any idea how hard it is to clean old dried eggs from your window? You can't just wash it off with water."

"No, you need more and you have to rub hard."

"Well, show some pity for me then."

"Poor Sara, poor little Sara. You have a hard life, you poor little thing."

"Now I remember again why I never liked you."

"You didn't like me years ago, when you thought I was hitting on your boyfriend, after you got over this strange thought, we got along pretty good. I mean look at us, we meet here for drinks every week. If you didn't enjoy our conversations you wouldn't be here."

"You think."

"I know. Did you know Nick has a new friend?"

"Like a girlfriend?"

"No, like a man's best friend. A dog. A K9. An officer got killed and Nick took the dog home. So the next time you visit him, bring some treats. Apparently Sam is a very nice dog and you should be able to communicate with him without a problem. He understands French, was trained there."

"Oh, Nick has to learn another language? I knew dog could make you work out more, that it also makes you learn foreign language is new to me." Sara laughed.

"I saw them together, I think he is willing to do whatever Sam needs."

"His dog has the same name like Catherine's dead father? That's a little bit weird."

"It would be weird if she owns the dog now."

"Right. How is my Greggo doing?"

"Fine, he worked with Nick. Morgan and Finn got a case of a shot lawyer. First it looked like he was killed by a jealous husband or boyfriend, as he slept around much, but it was his neighbor, who fell in love with him and couldn't handle to fact, he didn't feel anything for her. In fact, he called her old enough to be his mother."

"Ouch. Humiliation is never a good idea."

"It got him killed."

"Yeah…how comes you are so up to date with their cases? Don't you have anything else to do than watch the CSI nightshift doing their work?"

"I've got a lot of other things to do, but you guys were my team, I do consider you as my friends, and friends try to stay up to date with their friend's life. Did you not check where I was when you came back from France?"

"No, I had forgotten about you." The brunette grinned and blinked at the blonde. Of course she had checked where Sofia was. Like the Deputy Chief said, you want to know how your friends are, what they were doing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Santa Sofia**

Christmas was a time of the year, when people out of blue felt the urge to spend time together, celebrate and act like they were all sooo good friends and cared sooo much for each other. What a farce, most of the time on one of these Christmas parties, you ended up sitting next to a person, you couldn't stand at all and wouldn't want to share dinner with, if you had a choice. They all met at this Christmas buffet: the bootlicker, the office slut, the one, who had to tell family Christmas stories to everybody, who wanted and or didn't want to hear them. Worst of all, you sat right next to them or close enough to hear every word they said.

Sara didn't hate many things more than this forced meeting with people, she spent most hours of her days with anyway. Why wasn't she allowed to go home on time? There weren't many chance to do so in Las Vegas, especially not around Christmas, when people seemed to get even crazier than they were the rest of the year. She could be on her couch, reading a good book, listen to some good music - not this kitschy junk they play every year. How often could somebody listen to 'Last Christmas' before he or she committed a justifiable homicide? And yes, they all knew it was Christmas time, the radio told them since five weeks at least once every hour.

"Oh, I thought Grissom would be our Santa. You know, like a huge surprise for all of us." Greg said and sat next to Sara. At least it was Greg, who sat next to her and not…Ecklie. Although she could slap him for the topic. It was the only topic, that was worse than Christmas.

"I don't think he's into this…" Shit. "Party stuff." And he wasn't in town, he was…she had no idea, but he was gone and they hadn't been in contact for a while. Luckily it wasn't office gossip. Yet.

"Not, not really. Just like you. Smile, it doesn't hurt and it makes you look younger."

Did he call her old? Or did he say, she looked old? Well, she felt old and…caught in a trap, a Christmas trap.

"Let's welcome Santa." Catherine, who visited them for this special evening, had taken care of the program and seemed to enjoy it in her white dress with wings on her back. An angel, the Christmas angel. Gosh, what a horrible idea if they had expected everybody to dress up in any kind of Christmas costume. Sara was glad Cath visited them, found some time for her old colleagues, but why did she have to organize a Christmas party? Dinner would have been more than enough. In Sara's eyes. How could they talk about what was going on in theirs lives, when everybody talked only about Christmas and the holidays.

Somebody in a Santa Claus costume came into the room and sat on a big chair, Catherine had dragged there before. You have to leave it to her, she got all the details.

"Here's Santa, he knows who was good and who was bad. Get ready for the presents; or the punishment."

Great, somebody had written stories about them and now whoever was Santa would read them out loud, embarrass the person so the rest had fun. She should have another glass of wine. On TV she saw once a glass, that could hold a whole bottle, she needed one of them. Now and full.

One after another was called to the Santa, got a present and a slap on their backside for a sin, everybody laughed about. When it was Sara's time she felt like she was in a nightmare and had no chance to wake up. Why did she not call in sick? Or stumble on her way to the small stage and break her leg. Yes, that would be ironic, break a leg on her way to the stage. Ho, ho, fucking ho, ho.

Santa petted on his lap, wanting Sara to sit down. Did she really have to? Reluctant she sat down, mostly because she wanted to know, who was hidden behind the costume. Who was crazy enough to do this?

Blue eyes sparkled at her. Was that really…?

"Sofia?"

"Santa." It was the blonde. Sara recognized the voice now.

"Why are you wearing this costume?" Did Sofia have no dignity left? Or did somebody force her to be a part of this show? Was it a favor for Cath?

"I'm Santa, my child."

Whatever. "Okay, lets get over with it. Say what you have to say and then I can go back to the table." The sooner she could leave, the sooner it was over.

"Smile Sara."

The next one, who told her to smile. She hated this party, why pretend she was happy and having fun? "Why?"

"Because you can't kill them all, but you might irrigate them enough so they run into a bus."

Now that made Sara smile. "Not very nice words, Santa Sofia."

"They made you smile, it's all I wanted. Get ready for the stories and don't forget, irritate them."

Sara really smiled through the story. Catherine had written down two incidents of work, one which made Sara feel like a fool, one that wasn't that bad. Whoever told her former colleague made sure, the audience had fun. Nevertheless she was glad when the stories were over and she was allowed to go back to her place, wondering if Santa really slapped her ass when she got up or if she made that up.


	7. Chapter 7

**6. Pick and roll**

"How flexible are you?" Sara greeted Sofia when the blonde came into the bar.

"Depends. I'm not Elastigirl."

"Not? I'd love to see you in her suit."

"For that, you have to make me very, very drunk." Sofia laughed. She had no idea if she could get into that suit, it looked very, very tight. It would take ages and imagine, you had to go to the toilette…no, that was no suit for her. "So, what do you have in mind? Why am I supposed to be flexible?"

"I didn't have dinner. How about changing the location?"

No tight suit? Perfect. "I am your Elastigirl. Where do you want to go to?"

"A few doors down is a café with a fairly good menu."

"Lets go." A little snack couldn't hurt and the only food the bar offered, were chips and nuts. The blonde opened the door for the other woman.

"Thanks. Did you check on us again?"

"The son of your supervisor was a murder suspect, of course I stay up to date. He slapped the victim, his girlfriend had a sexual relationship with the victim, I had to have a look on the case, after all the things, that happened here the last years. Please, don't think I don't trust you guys."

"It's your job, Sofia."

"Thanks." The blonde felt guilty when she checked on her old shift, but it was her job. People expected her to have an eye on everything, especially when murder was involved.

"So, what does your boss, Ecklie, say about Las Vegas lost two more famous faces? At least famous for sports fans?"

"He's not happy about it, but it has nothing to do with LVPD. We solved the case, the press won't bother us. In fact, it will get us out of the spotlight, which is good. Did DB tell his son about his girlfriend? What she did or does for a living?" Imagine your father sits next to you and tells you, your girlfriend wasn't the one, you thought she was. That she had a secret life, you most likely not agree with. It was the end of the relationship, wasn't it?

"No."

"She reminded me of Lady Heather. I mean, the dominatrix thing. There are some, who actually never sleep with their clients, they only punish them. Is it a betrayal when you punish another man to his sexual arousal? When you never sleep with him, maybe not even touch him? Can being a dominatrix be like any other job? You do it from nine to five, or five to midnight, as your clients will work during the day, go home and forget about it? Will it be work or sex for you?"

"That will depend on whom you ask." Sara opened the door for Sofia to the bar. "We had once a president, who claimed he never had a sexual relationship with this woman. Some people see oral sex not as sex. So when being a dominatrix, not touching anybody but yet make him aroused is not sex, it's not a betrayal. Not a physical. Keeping it secret from your partner is a betrayal. For some it's worse than a physical betrayal."

"I'd kick my boyfriend out if he betrays me, one way or another."

"You have a boyfriend?" Now Sara was surprised. She didn't know this about the blonde. Why was she alone in the bar? Why was she in the bar at all and not with her boyfriend?

"Yes, believe it or not, somebody loves me."

"Why don't I know him?"

"Must have slipped my mind after we meet for ages, tell each other everything and are BFF. You'd never keep your relationship secret, I know." Sweet little irony.

"Okay, your point." Sara chuckled. She was the last one to complain about keeping secrets because, as Sofia pointed out, she never mentioned anything about Grissom and her. "I hope he's a good guy."

"If not, I know how to handle bad guys. And you have the equipment in the lab to punish the bad guy. Will you take a whip with you when you go to a scene? Next to your gun."

"No, I leave that to you, Deputy Chief. You can wear your Elastigirl suit and swing the whip. Maybe your boyfriend likes that."

"Nah, I think he likes me more as a surfer girl, you know, a bikini is less fabrics than a suit. He wants me out of my clothes and not in something, he needs hours to get me out."

"Too much information." Sara covered her ears and walked to a free table. It was enough to know Sofia was in a relationship, she didn't need any details about it.


	8. Chapter 8

**7. Fallen angels**

When Sara's eyes met Sofia's she knew the blonde thought the same she did. Warrick. The last case got their memories of their former friend and colleague back. A body found on Warrick's grave, they had to get his son out of the house because Tina, Warrick's wife and the mother of Eli, had some problems, that could endanger her son's life. And at one point it even looked like Warrick was alive. Or kind of alive. Reached out from wherever he was?

"How are Tina and Eli?" Sofia asked.

"Tina will do everything to get him back and I have no doubt she loves him."

"Love is the most important thing between a mother and her child, but to give your child a good life, he needs more than love. I saw photos of the house, you had no other choice than calling Child Protective Service."

"I know. It hurt anyway. It's not what Warrick wanted for his son. Eli loves his mother, it broke my heart to see him cry when he was taken away." And it would have broken Warrick's heart too.

"I can imagine this."

"But in the end, Tina decided to go the right way and I'm sure it wasn't the last time we have seen Eli. I guess she understood now, we don't want to take her son away, we only want him to know his father so and we don't forget him." It was hard not to forget a person, who wasn't there anymore, would never come back. With every day, you lost a little bit more of this person until the memory was gone.

"She has nobody else than Eli, being protective of him is normal."

"I know." Sara looked at her beer for a few seconds. "I often ask myself if I had pulled the trigger on McKeen. If I had been in Nick's shoes, what would I have done? Having him at gun point, after he shot Warrick, killed more people. I'm not sure I could have had myself under control."

"To McKeen it might have look like Nick is weak, unable to take revenge for his dead friend. I think it showed his real strength. It's easy to settle a score, more difficult to not let yourself pull down to the same level like the one you hate most. McKeen will be in prison for the rest of his life, he'll pay for what he did every day. It doesn't bring Warrick back, neither does killing McKeen."

"He's sleeky, prison won't be a big punishment. He might find ways."

"It will be more difficult. Killing him had stopped him, but I don't think I would have done Nick any good."

"Maybe not." The brunette sighed. She missed Warrick, no matter how hard the first weeks had been for them. She came to Las Vegas to investigate him, she could have gotten him fired. It was a hard thing Grissom asked her to do back then. That he trusted nobody as much as he did her, made it only partly better.

"This case, it got not only Warrick back, it has a lot of to do with Grissom too, right?" Sofia asked carefully.

"He loved him. Warrick was like a son to him. I've never seen him this broken than on the day Warrick was killed. They had a special relationship."

"Yes, they had. Did you…did you tell Grissom about the case? About Tina and Eli? And the body on Warrick's grave?"

"No. It's nothing you should talk about on the phone."

"Does he plan to come back to Vegas?" A delicate question, sometimes it looked like Sara had no idea what Grissom planned, what he was up to.

"I hope so, right now I can't tell you what his plans are. It's…it's all complicated."

"Seems like in our lives there are more complicated things than we like. Not only the cases get harder, I sometimes feel like they even get more personal, but our private lives are also not a walk in the park."

"I'm afraid we choose jobs, that are like our lives. Being a CSI, a cop, a doctor, you see so many bad things, it's hard to go home and be happy. Look at DB, he tried to protect his family, keep it out of the job, it doesn't work. Sooner or later the job gets you and your family. Evil reaches out to the good."

"That's why we get up every day and fight it back. So it won't overtake our lives." The question was, how long did they have the power to fight back? And was it possible to fight evil or would it overpower them in the end?


	9. Chapter 9

**8. CSI on fire**

"How comes people from night shift go rogue all the time? What is it with you guys that you can't take orders? Can't stick to the rules?"

"You tell me, as far as I remember you had the same problem." Sara shot back dryly. "I can remember at least one occasion, when you decided you don't have to stick to the rules. No, make that two, a second one just came to mind."

"Finn could have been fired for what she did."

"She did close the case."

"Sometimes it's not only what you did but also how you did it." Sofia sighed.

"I know."

"I'm glad you had nothing to do with this case, that you weren't involved."

"Why? Would you hate to pull my paper?"

"Yes." It was bad enough to investigate a member of her former shift, it would be worse to investigate Sara, who she met once a week after work.

"This guy and his friends killed god knows how many women, they raped them, buried them alive. She did the right thing, maybe not in the right way, but it was the right thing and she got him. It's a shame he doesn't get a trial, spends the rest of his life in jail then again, he could have afford pretty good lawyer, this way he won't get away."

"Since when do we approve with killing killer?"

"Since we know the world is better off without some people. That's why there's a death penalty."

"Then a judge and a jury have to make this decision and not a man, who was as guilty as the suspect."

"I agree on that."

"Good."

"Do you really just care so much about these things because you used to work with us? Or is it to keep your job safe? The less trouble we make, the less trouble you're in."

"I'd like to keep my job, yes, but I also want you to keep your jobs. Believe it or not, I care for you. With whom will I have drinks once a week when you're gone? I'd miss that."

"How about your boyfriend?"

"I have drinks with him, but sometimes you need other people around. People, who challenge you and your patience, ask questions only to see if they can annoy you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sara laughed. Okay, maybe she tested sometimes how far she could go, what the blonde could tolerate. "To get back to the case: it was wrong of Finn to fly to Seattle without letting anybody know. She should have told DB, at least when she was there. It was clear he'd find out sooner or later. When we're passionate about a case we forget the basic rules sometimes. Some people can rattle your cage. Hannah West did that to me. Basderic too." Two examples, she didn't like to think of, but they became a part of her life.

"It's what they want because they know it's the only way they can make you make mistakes. When you don't make mistakes, they have no chance to win."

"He must have been good, he got away with multiple murder for a long time."

"His family has money, it's always harder to get rich people. We both know, it's possible to buy freedom for a time. You and me, they can't blackmail us, but even when we haul them to court, all it takes is a judge, who takes the money. Or a jury member."

"This is why I take more time off then I did in the early years, I need time to get away from these things, I need time to see the beautiful things in life."

"Which is good, it will save you from burning out."

"Our meetings help too. It's good to talk about the case with somebody who has a certain distance and still knows what I'm talking about, knows the problems we're dealing with."

"Thanks, I like our meetings too. Reminds me of the time we worked together. We were a damn good team, back in the days."

"We were." Sara grinned widely. "We kicked asses."


	10. Chapter 10

**9. Strip Maul**

"How did you survive the time as an officer? It's crazy out there at night." Sara said when Sofia sat next to her.

"Oh, you were out with the crime unit, right. People there are alive instead of dead. Quite a change, isn't it?"

"I think dead people are much easier to handle. What makes people wear a horse head on the Strip? With a bag of grass in his pocket?"

"Horses eat grass." Pretty easy to figure out. What else than grass should a horse have in its pockets? Okay, a horse didn't have pockets…

"Not this kind of grass. And we had a mule too. A drug mule."

"The man, who pretended to be a woman? He killed himself in the department, it was a messy crime scene. And another thing the Sheriff isn't happy about." Another thing, that would give Sofia a headache and a lot of work, to smoothen things out.

"I heard rumors that…is it true? She wants to resign?" Usually Sara wasn't interested in gossip, in this case, it was about work, she had Sofia, as a good source, next to her, why not test the waters? See, how much truth was in this rumor.

"I can't talk for her."

"No, but you can tell me if you heard the same rumor. If you know more."

"Are you interested in the job?"

"No, I'm not and I'm in no position to become the Sheriff. You, on the other hand, you could become the Sheriff of Vegas one day. You're climbing the ladder pretty good and fast."

"We can talk about that in ten years or so. For now, I think Ecklie would be a good choice. He has changed."

"He did. Morgan is pretty good for him. How is Brass doing? I heard the prostitute had a ring, he bought for his ex wife. It must have been a shock to realize, something, that meant a lot to you, was sold to a stranger." By your own daughter, who seemed to hate your guts.

"Yeah, he wanted Ellie to have to ring as a sign of how much her parents were in love. She sold it, worse, she must be or must have been in Las Vegas and never tried to reach out for him. She's his weakness, whatever she does, it goes straight to him, affects him. He'll try to find her, find out if she's still here or moved on."

"I hope he tells us when he needs help. Dealing with family issues is hard and they're even harder when you deal with them on your own."

Sofia raised her eyebrows. She knew somebody else, who had family issues and didn't ask for help. This person was sitting right in front of her, but she would not say a single word about Sara and Grissom's relationship, it was up to the brunette to bring this topic in.

"This kid, Bobby Reed, he didn't care about anything. We told him, his room mate was dead because of him and he acted like we told him, it rained in Seattle. He was cold. I'm not sure if he reacted this way to hurt his father or because he actually doesn't feel anything for other people."

"Maybe it was his kind of payback for his father. His parents are divorced, often there's bad blood."

"He did mention something about, he has his weekend visits again and if he would comes to see him more often this time, he might have a clue what was going in the life of his son."

"Words like these make me happy to have no child."

"You don't like children?"

"I love them, but…there are so many things you can make wrong. It's so easy to screw up and say things, you can't take back. It's a huge responsibility and with our jobs…I saw it with Catherine, you worry all the time about your child, because you know how evil the world is. And then you're away so often, to fight evil, that you don't have enough time to be with your child."

"That's true."

Sofia wondered if Sara and Grissom had talked about having children and if these were the words, they ended this discussion with. But it was something, she better not asked the brunette.


	11. Chapter 11

**10. Risky business class**

"Tell me about Doug."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Tell me about Doug. He's not only very good looking, he also got you. I mean, the two of you got along very good, did an old fire…"

"Sofia, stop right there. You are way out of line!" Sara didn't rise her voice, but the way she said these two sentences told Sofia, she had to stop or there would be a scene, the blonde didn't like.

"Sorry."

"Stay on the case or I'll end our conversation right away and there won't be another one. Am I clear?"

"Yes. Sorry."

"Okay." Sara took a deep breath. She didn't want to talk about Doug, nor about their past or anything else, that wasn't work related. If Sofia did not accept this rule, the brunette would get up and leave right away.

"So, five people are dead and when I say we're lucky it sounds weird."

"It does. First. Then you think about how lucky the Mediterranean was that the plane missed it. A lot of more people could be dead. Or when the plane had crashed into a house with a family inside. Yes, five people are dead, but nevertheless, we were lucky it weren't more."

"All because a man and a doctor didn't want a woman to find out the truth."

"A lot of money was involved, Jeffrey wanted his sister in a high end facility, he couldn't afford it himself, so he changed the women's identity. I worked out for years, until Jordan appears and endangers everything."

"They could have just let the DNA kit get stolen. Or make Jordan disappear." Sofia said. "Not that this would have been better, murder is murder, but four people had to die, they had nothing to do with the case."

"True." Sara paused. She wasn't here to talk about private things or feelings, but there was something, that wanted to be out and she had no idea where else she could mention it? At work? At breakfast with her team? No, too many people and it would get carried into her work life too. This setting was better, Sofia knew the basics, but she wasn't around at work. "I ignored Grissom's call when he called during the case."

Sofia wasn't sure how to react, should she just ignore the comment and continue with the case or say something to Sara's confession? A few moments ago the brunette made it obvious she didn't want to talk about her private life, now she offered something very personal.

"I tried to reach him for days, he never called back and suddenly…I don't know."

"Did you call him back later?" The blonde ask carefully, ready to back off when she overstepped a line.

"Not yet."

"Well…you tell me when I go to far here…I heard some lab gossip…I don't need to tell you from whom, you know it anyway, that Doug was…that he didn't act like he had a problem spending time with you."

"Hodges."

"You know him. So do I."

"Doug did invite Grissom and me to dinner, when I told him Gil isn't in town, he changed the offer to him and me. I told him that's not a good idea and he accepted it."

"He respects you and your marriage. Not many men do that."

"I know." The question was, was she disappointed he accepted it without any further questions or trying to change her mind? Did she want him to fight for her? At least a little bit?

"Like not many wives send a good looking ex-boyfriend away. You are a good wife Sara, no matter if you answered the call or not. Every wife has the right to be mad at her husband. That doesn't make you a bad wife, it makes you human."

"A human makes mistakes."

"We do and we learn from them. At least most do. Come on, I buy us another drink and then we go over to the Thai restaurant. You said no to Doug, I don't let you say no to me." Sofia smirked.

"Okay, you can take me out for dinner and when Grissom calls, I answer." The brunette smiled too. If her husband didn't call during dinner, she'd try to reach him when she was home and then it was time for a long conversation.


	12. Chapter 12

**11. Dead air**

When Sofia didn't find Sara at the bar, she waited for half an hour, tried to call her on her cell phone. When she didn't reach the brunette and got the information from the woman at reception of the crime lab, that Sara left a while ago, she decided she would do something, she never did before. She drove the brunette's apartment. Another thought if she was doing the right thing and she knocked on the door. Waited half a minute, knocked again. Louder, longer. Again, no reaction. One last try. Maybe the brunette was in the shower, didn't hear her. Insistently she knocked again and finally heard steps behind the door. There was no peephole on the door, so Sara had to open to see, who was waiting on front of. And when she did, Sofia knew something was wrong.

"I…"

Sara couldn't say more, she was pulled in by the blonde, who held on to her, while she kicked the door close with her feet, not letting Sara go. Without saying a word she held her for five or ten minutes, feeling how her blazer got wet and the tears reached her shoulder.

"Sorry." Sara's voice was thin, like it every word she said was hard work for her. She had been working today, had closed a case. Sofia knew about it, she knew all details about the case, as she always did. And she also knew Sara had gotten a couple of phone calls from Grissom and tonight she answered one.

"No need to say you're sorry."

"I should have called you, told you I can't make it tonight. You waited for nothing."

"I didn't mind the waiting, I worried something happened to you."

"It did."

"You talked to Grissom."

"Yes."

"He's not coming back any time soon."

"I'm not sure if he's coming back at all. It's all…more than complicated. We haven't seen each other in a long time, we barely speak, first I couldn't reach him, then I didn't pick up and now …now we talked and it feels like it's worse than before."

"It's not always good to know what's going on." At least it didn't feel like this first, in the end it was always better to know the truth, even when it hurt. Lies hurt more.

"It sucks. It destroys the hope you have left. When your hope is gone, what is left to live for?"

"The hope for new hope?" It broke Sofia's heart to see Sara like this. At the same time she was glad, she had come here, look for the brunette and not leave her alone in her pain. It was worse when you are alone.

"No." Sara got out of Sofia's arms and sat on the couch. The blonde followed her, quietly, waiting for the other woman to continue talking. This was something they had to do in Sara's pace. She had to feel like saying the next word, the next sentence.

"I feel empty. Like there are no feelings left inside me. And no tears. They're all gone, together with the hope. And my marriage. I guess. The way it looks right now, the marriage is more than severe damaged, it's over." The words didn't sound like they belonged to her, to her relationship. They couldn't. It weren't the words, Sara wanted for Grissom and her. She wanted them to be happy. Happily married.

"Anything I can do? Anything at all?"

"No. No, you can't give me new feelings or make me feel like everything will be fine again. You can't put this lie into my head."

"Sara…I'd love to tell you, that there's always hope, even you don't feel like there is."

"Don't tell me those things because they'd be lies and I can't bear more lies. If you want to do something for me, just…stay…stay with me without asking questions."

"I can do that." Sofia took Sara's hand and squeezed it. If she was needed as silent company, she could be exactly this. Nothing more, nothing less.


	13. Chapter 13

**12. Double fault**

Sofia was pleased to find out Sara took a few days off to get her head clear. After the phone call with Grissom, she wasn't in a state of mind to work a criminal case. Nor was she ready to face her colleagues. They knew her and they'd know something was wrong. Sara, being a person, who didn't like to talk about her private life nor her feelings, was better off away from them until she could maintain a straight face again.

"Tell me what I missed at work." Sara said when Sofia sat next to her.

"You missed a tennis murder. First it looked Claudia, the victim, was killed because she won the match, but they found it, she was killed because her opponent was not only mad about the match, she also wanted the husband. He told her, he wants a divorce, but the night after the match, she heard him talk to his wife, they both agreed on working on their relationship. Losing two fights on one day was too much."

"Jealousy is always good for murder. I wonder if she thought, when she gets the wife out of the way, the husband will turn back to her again."

"Might have been a thought. Hw doesn't have to stay when she's dead, so get her out of the way and get the guy you want." Sofia paused for a few seconds. "Am I allowed to ask how you are?"

"Not good. I think it's time to go back to work, I can need some distraction. Thinking the whole day does more harm than good."

"Or a few more days off? Time to get away? See a different place, get her mind off Las Vegas."

"No, I don't think so…I don't know. It's all complicated."

"Which brings me away from you and straight to the biggest news in the lab: did you know Hodges has a fiancée?"

"Hodges? David Hodges? Which woman wants to spend her life with him?" Sara was really surprised. "He's… odd." Not a nice thing to say about a college, but it was what she thought.

"He's engaged to a woman from Italy. They met last year, when he took his mother there. Apparently it's real love, she's the one. The problem is, immigration doesn't believe it's real love. They suspect she wants to marry him because of a Green Card."

"I know it sounds mean, but I tend to believe the same."

"Yeah, she's really pretty, like a model. I wonder what she sees in him. He's great at his work, with people he is…not most people." He lived with his mother for what? Forty years? Who wanted to man like that?

"Maybe that's the attraction?" Sara couldn't argue that man, who were strange, could be interesting. Grissom has never been a social well educated man, he wasn't easy to reach and yet, she fell in love with him.

"Could be. We'll see what happens with them, if they get married this year or immigration stops them. If she makes him happy and really loves him, it's good for him. Maybe he gets less weird when he's married."

"I'm not sure a marriage changes your character." Sara finished her beer. Grissom didn't change after their wedding. He was still the same. Unavailable. "This tennis player, was she somebody I should know?"

"Claudia Webber. She was an upcoming star. Tara Janssen killed her. They were double partner, best friends off the court. Or so the world thought."

"Their names ring a bell, I'm not a big tennis fan, but I think I heard about them."

"Now you won't hear of them anymore. Oh, for a while it looked like Claudia's brother had killed her. Nick and Greg found the bodies of Claudia's parents up in the woods, they were killed with a shovel. Claudia, who saw a kind of doctor, who helped her to find out, what happened when she was a child. I'm not a fan of these theories, but it worked out, Claudia remembered a few things. Like her brother, Brent. So Claudia called Brent Abbots to find out, if one of them was her brother. He was in Vegas, to reconnect with her. Well, he confessed in killing their parents, but he didn't kill Claudia."

"Why did he kill their parents?"

"His father abused him for years, his mother covered it. He wanted it to end."

Sara nodded. She could understand this man to a degree. Not that she agreed on killing your abuser, but she understood how people could consider it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Santa's offer**

"What is wrong with you that you play Santa Claus? Did somebody force you to do that?" Sara had to ask. It had been on her mind the whole time, why would Sofia agree to do such a ridiculous thing? She was the Deputy Chief, when she dressed up like Santa Claus people didn't take her serious. When she was not too far away from the blonde's office, she went there to get answers to her questions. Maybe there was a good explanation why her former colleague had agreed to be Santa Claus. Maybe somebody had a very embarrassing photo of her or threatened to slash her car tires. Anything like that.

"Pure fun, Sara."

"Fun? You really enjoyed that?" That was worse than being blackmailed.

"Yes." The blonde grinned. "It's a way to forget about all the bad things we have to see every day. A way to laugh and have fun with your colleagues and I could have some people sitting on my lap." Yes, a few. Not everybody had been invited to sit on Santa's lap. "Not to mention, I could slap everybody, you don't get away with slapping your boss on a normal day. Yesterday I could slap Ecklie, didn't get in trouble and everybody laughed. This moment alone was worth being the Santa Claus."

"Everybody would laugh and cheer anyway." Sara shot back dryly. She would.

"Maybe, but I would have to look for a new job, I like the one I have. Come in, close the door."

"Why? Am I trouble?" Sara did as told, but she preferred to stand instead of sitting down. It felt a little bit like being called into the dean's office.

"No, I wanted to ask you how you are and it's not necessary the whole world hears it."

"I'm fine."

"You have always been a bad liar. I heard about you and Grissom's…break-up."

So much for, she wasn't office gossip. Apparently that had changed since the Christmas party. Another reason why Sara hated those parties, too many people came together, had too much time and pocked into too many topics, that weren't their business. In the end they came up with a half truth of the private life of their colleagues, which needed to be confirmed or completed; depending on the type of story.

"When you want gossip, I'm the wrong person. I also don't discuss my relationship status or any other private business at work. No matter if you were Santa or not, it's not your business." Sara's voice was cool. The blonde had no right to ask her about Grissom or her marriage. They were colleagues, not close friends. And even as the Deputy Chief, she was way out of line to demand private information.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to invade your privacy, it only seems like…you could need somebody to listen. Or is there somebody, who listens? Greg? Nick?"

"What part of it's not your business did you not get? You're the Deputy Chief and not the department shrink. Which I don't need, so don't get any ideas of counseling orders."

"You don't have to talk to the department shrink, like you don't have to talk to me. It's okay, I only want you to know, when you feel like talking, or want somebody to listen, or just sit there and have a beer with you, I'm available. Twenty-four/seven."

"Is that your Christmas present for me?"

"No, it's an offer, nothing else. No strings attached. You can take or not, it's up to you. And it has nothing to do with Christmas, I would have made you the same offer if we had summer now. We work together, we might not be friends, but sometimes it's easier to talk to somebody, who is not a close friend." As if Sara had close friends. Greg was the closest to a close friend she could offer and she didn't want to discuss her marriage problems with him or anybody else.

"Thanks, I'm fine."

"Good." Sofia smiled. "How much did you hate the party last night?"

"A lot."

"Was there nothing good about it?"

"Well, Santa had a nice advice for me, it made me laugh. I'll try it the next time I walk through the city, so get ready for a lot of phone calls, because people will end up in front of buses."

Sofia chuckled. "Don't tell me about your plans or I have to arrest you."

"You want to arrest me because I smile? Santa, we're in Las Vegas, people are allowed to smile here." Sara opened the door. "Merry Christmas, Deputy Chief Curtis. Keep your hands at yourself!"


	15. Chapter 15

**13. In vino veritas**

"How about a bottle of red wine for tonight?" Sara lifted a bottle of red wine when Sofia sat down. "We can have some cheese with it. Cracker."

"From beer to a chateau, what a step. Yes, lets have a bottle of wine, some crackers and a good time. Why not go to an Italian restaurant? Have some pizza with the wine." Quite a big change, from a bar to a restaurant. A nice change.

"It's French wine, we need a French restaurant for it. Or safe a lot of money and stay here. The bottle is expensive enough."

"You could have sneaked one out of the lab, Hodges enjoyed one, why shouldn't we do the same?"

"Because it' wrong and when the Deputy Chief gets caught with a stolen wine bottle from the CSI lab, she won't become the Sheriff. And I really want to call you Sheriff Curtis. It sounds good, doesn't it? Sheriff Sofia Curtis. It has a ring."

"Stop it." The blonde laughed.

"Why? It's your goal. "

"Like I told you before, it's a goal for like in ten years or so. If I were the Sheriff now, I had to worry about your supervisor. He took off to New York with Mac Taylor, the head of the New York crime lab. They're looking for Taylor's girlfriend, who has been abducted. I'm not sure if this is a good idea, they have to rely on a criminal."

"Yeah, but this guy seems to be the only one, who has a clue where, what was her name? Christine? Is. And when we're honest, we'd do the same. Russell going with him is nice. And it's not the first time one of us is in New York. Langstom went there too."

"Yes and Catherine went to Miami. I don't say it's wrong, I only say it can get complicated." A lot of paperwork and some politics.

"Life is complicated."

"True. So how much is this bottle of wine?"

"Compared to the 1936 bottle a bargain. I don't pay a million dollar for six bottles of wine. Especially not when they're not what their labels says they are. This guy, Vogel, he made twenty million dollar within a few days by selling wine. People are starving all over the planet and here they pay a ridiculous amount of money for a bottle of liquid grapes." It was ridiculous and sad at the same time.

"Well, when people have too much money, they start to spend it on things, that are overprized. A bottle of wine, eighty years old, I don't know if I'd pay anything for it. Who says it's still fine? Imagine, you pay two hundred thousand dollar for a bottle and when you open it, you find out it's expensive vinegar." She'd rather spend a few bucks on a good bottle of beer, maybe an important one from Europe. Much better than wine.

"Or a cheap bottle of wine, you can buy at any supermarket. Or drink in the lab while you're at work."

"I pretend I have no idea about it." There was a no alcohol rule at work, Sofia didn't want to know if Sara - or anybody else - violated that rule.

"It's not your job to tell them off."

"Depends. I should tell Russell."

"No, you're not a rat"

"No, I'm not a rat and nobody's pet."

"Like you're not into fast money. You know there are a few bottles of the faked wine left. Keep them in a cellar for a few years until nobody remembers about this case and you can make a fortune by selling them. I might just do that."

"Yeah sure, Sara Sidle the big wine dealer. You're one of the last people, who will cheat on people. You love the truth too much and despite criminal actions." Sofia smiled. Sara was an honest soul, she'd never pull off such a fraud. It was against her own belief.


	16. Chapter 16

**14. Exile**

"How about some Cuban music?" Sara asked when she caught Sofia in front of the door to their usual bar.

"Did the case inspire you?"

"Maybe."

"That worries me slightly. Did it inspire you to Cuban music, Cuban food or to poison me? Silvana killed her sister in one of the most brutal ways I've ever seen, she got the man, she claimed to love, killed and doesn't regret anything." Another case where the victim was killed by a person, she trusted and loved.

"No, she doesn't regret killing her sister, she does regret that she got Estenfan killed." Sara corrected. "All her life she loved him, all her songs were about him and her sister steals her man." It could drive you crazy, see the thing you loved and wanted most, turn to your sister and not see you.

"He didn't love Silvana, he loved Marta."

"So? Since when does this stop people from killing the person, they held responsible? In Silvana's world, when she got rid off her sister, her dream would come true."

"Yeah. So, where are we going to?"

"There's a Cuban restaurant a couple of blocks away. I promise I won't kill you on our way or there. Or any time later."

"Thanks, that's very kind of you." The blonde smiled and started walking next to the brunette.

"The case proved one thing too: the fight of the older generation doesn't have to be the fight of the younger ones."

"Like Romeo and Juliet?" Sara asked. "Their families hated each other while they were in love?"

"Well, our Romeo and Juliet ended up dead too. Not suicide, but if you want, yes, they have something in common with the most famous couple. The bad end."

"I wonder what happened to the world that we don't get happy endings anymore." What happened to '….they lived happily ever after'?

Sofia wondered if this sentence was also meant to talk for Sara and Grissom. The brunette didn't mention her husband, didn't say a word about what the status of their relationship was. And Sofia was sure, it was better not to ask about it until Sara started this topic on her own.

"Statistically Vegas is a lucky city for lovers, you can get married on every corner, millions of people come here every year just to do this." It was fast, cheap, unusual and in case you regretted what you did, you drove to Reno and got a cheap divorce.

"Stories don't end with the wedding, they continue."

"True. Which reminds me, Hodge's girlfriend, or fiancée, Elisabetha will get her Green Card. Oue government agreed. They have now ninety days to get married."

"Lucky for them they're in Vegas, they could be already married. Did you meet her?"

"No, I didn't."

"Oh well, I'm sure we'll all meet her when they get married. And I hope this will be a happy end. I remember how down Hodges was when Wendy left…"

"Sara Sidle, you know all the lab gossip! And here I am, absolutely surprised because all these years I was so sure, you don't care about gossip, about who dates whom. You know all details, don't try to talk yourself out of this, you're so busted." Sara was a gossip girl! And Sofia caught her in the act.

"Sofia, I sit with the guys in the same break room, I hear things, no matter if I want to hear them or not."

"Cheap excuse, Sara, you know it. I got you. Sara Sidle is a chatterbox."

"You know, I was wrong, I might poison you." Sara smirked She was no chatterbox, she just was not deaf. When the guys talked about all the things, that were going on in the lab, she couldn't help but hear them too. And her brain remembered them. Also if she wanted or not.


	17. Chapter 17

**15. Forget me not**

"Did you make Crawford change his mind and change the ammo?" Sara asked when Sofia sat across to her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The blonde didn't smile, her face was stoic.

"First he couldn't wait to arrest me, or at least book me, then he goes after Basderic and changes the ammo. Somebody ordered him to change his mind."

"I didn't order detective Crawford to do anything."

"Not?"

"No." It wasn't her job to tell a detective what to do, how to handle a case. She trusted them, trusted, they know what they were doing every day.

"Are you mad at me, Sofia?"

"I am. What the hell were you thinking when you went after Basderic alone? You, from all people, should know how fucked up he is, that he plays people and in the end kills them. He did the same before, you knew it. How could you walk into his trap? He was about to do the same to you."

"I tried to tell people he's after everything, nobody believed me."

"Not true. They did believe you, but they had to follow the evidence. I know Grissom used to say the evidence never lies and he is right. Evidence doesn't lie. You only have to find all evidence. Which was the problem with your case, the evidence against you was presented on a silver plate and they couldn't just ignore it. But his setting you up helped you too. There was no evidence that confirmed his story of you beating him up, nothing. And after that was official, they could look for all the hidden evidence, the evidence, that proved you're innocent. All you had to do was stay out of Basderic's way, make sure he couldn't hurt you more and wait to cooperate with your colleagues. They are your friends, for Christ's sake. You complained they didn't trust you, you did the same. You went Lone Ranger and it almost got you killed if Crawford hadn't taken care of the ammo."

"He did and I knew he did. There was no risk involved."

"What if he had had another gun? It was stupid, it was dangerous and…fuck it, Sara. Why the hell did you not talk to me?" It was what bothered Sofia most. Why did Sara not come to her? Talk to her? Weren't they kind of friends? After all those weeks in the bar, talking about cases and some private stuff, she had expected the brunette to trust her.

"Because you're the Deputy Chief, you have to play by the rules."

"I'm your friend, although it looked like you didn't care much about your friends, don't trust them."

"You off all can't complain. You knew about Grissom's and my problems. More than the guys."

"I did and it's why should you have come to me."

"Are we here to argue? Because if we are, I end the evening here. The last days were stressful enough, I don't need another evening with accusations. I'm tired and I don't want to hear all these things anymore."

"Did you talk to Greg and Nick?"

"I did. I also told them the marriage is over and that it wasn't what I wanted. And I don't think it's what Grissom wanted. Sometimes things don't work out the way you hope they do. And they said, the marriage is or was so important to them because it kept Grissom in Vegas. They all miss him and…I guess I was the connection."

"Yes, you are the connection to Grissom, you kept his memories alive, but you're your own person. You are Sara, not Misses Grissom. They love you because of who you are and not because you are or were married to. Grissom is a part of you, but he's not the part, that makes you you."

"No, that's right."

"I liked the fact you and he were married, you are alike, but I like you for being you. And when you have a problem I want you to come to me and talk to me. Or at least to Greg and Nick. We're your friends, we're there for you, no matter what. No matter what any evidence says. And I hope you got that."

"I did." Sara took Sofia's hand. "I did understand I've got some really good friends." She had the proof.

"Then everything is said and we can continue to have a beer and finish this topic. My treat."

"The best words I heard today." Sara smiled a little bit. It was time to stop thinking about Basderic, there were other things on her mind and maybe today was a good day to open up to Sofia a little bit more. The blonde proved she was a good listener and after the end of her marriage, that could be exactly what she needed. A person, who listened and didn't judge her.


	18. Chapter 18

**16. Last woman standing**

"We have a new Sheriff."

"Yes, the Sheriff is dead, long live the Sheriff. I mean, not dead like dead." Sara corrected herself. It's just what the saying was. The king is dead, long live the king. Although, in those cases, the king was dead like dead.

"I know what you mean. What do you think about Sheriff Ecklie?" Sofia gave the bartender a sign that she wanted a beer too.

"Well, I hope Sheriff Ecklie is a better Sheriff than supervisor Ecklie was a supervisor. When I look at the last months, he has changed and with Morgan around, I'm sure he won't change back to the old weasel he was years ago."

"Let's hope so, by goodness. How are you holding up?"

"Good. The guys are pretty caring, the first thing Nick asked me when I arrived at the scene, was if I was fine."

"They take care of you, good to know. I'm having an eye on Basderic, if there are news or changes, I let you know first. In exchange, you promise me to stay away from him."

"Sofia, I've got no intentions of getting close to him. He's in prison, as long as he stays there, I'm happy." There was no better place for him to be, he was where he belonged.

"Good. Let's hope he stays there for the rest of his life." Sofia was sure, if this man ever came out, he'd try to get Sara again. He was the kind of man, who wanted revenge. Sofia wasn't that let going to happen.

"Did you know you can kill a person with a play card? It sounded so unreal when Hodges came up with this."

"I knew playing cards could kill you, that it could literally kill you was new to me. Then again, Katy knew how to throw them, she had a pretty good coach."

"Yes, plus she had access to the murder weapons. The card, the ax, how handy to use the ax of somebody else. You offer the police a suspect and Jimmy did not do anything to make us believe, he's innocent"

"She had a lot of anger and hate inside. These people ruined not only the life of her father, they also took away her father." Sofia smiled at the bartender when she got her beer.

"They cheated, yes, but they didn't kill him. He killed himself, it was his decision."

"True. How is Morgan doing?" The blonde changed the topic. "It was the first time she had to shoot somebody."

"She's shaken up, but Ecklie will take care of that. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to work as a CSI and never use your weapon. Killing a person is nothing you can put aside, no matter if it was the first time you killed somebody or the tenth. At least I can't say that firing at people leaves me cold."

"No, it doesn't. As a cop I shot a few people, it always makes you feel like a killer. That's what separates us from them, our conscience."

"You send the department shrink to her?"

"It's kind of procedure. Talk to him, let him write his report, go back to work." Sofia knew they all hated the department shrink, hated to talk to him, but it was part of the procedure and sometimes it did help.

"You know this conversations suck?"

"I know, I had a few myself."

"Can't you change these rules?"

"No, I can't. They're there for a reason. We have to play by the rules because the last case showed us, what happens, if you don't. It gets you killed eventually. And sometimes they do help, those shrinks. They are pretty good listeners and it might be exactly what you need."

"When they only listen and don't come up with strange meaning for whatever you said, they're bearable, yes." Sara agreed. Yet, she felt strange whenever she had to deal with a shrink. Who said they couldn't read your mind and knew all your hidden secrets?


	19. Chapter 19

**17. Dead of the class**

"Cheerleader? Nerd? Bad girl? What were you in high school?" Sara asked.

"Make an educated guess and then you tell me about your high school time."

"I bet you were one of these girls, who got good marks and were out all the time, chasing after guys, having fun. A teacher's favorite, a mother's nightmare and always with a boyfriend by your side."

"Yes, sounds just like me." Sofia laughed. "Or like I wanted to be. What about you?"

"Nerd."

"Right, Harvard, Berkley. Did you go to your reunion?"

"I'd rather drop dead and die a slow and painful death. There are some things in life you don't need to go through twice."

"They were mean to you?"

"I was invisible, always hidden behind my books."

"Sounds like David. It's tough, you go to your reunion and stumble over a body. Of a girl, who treated you like garbage. Even when she was a woman."

"Some people never grow up. Once a bitch, always a bitch. He did solve the case, that will impress his former classmates."

"I doubt they'll ever know about it. The next reunion everybody will talk about how Becca died. I wonder if David will attend to this reunion too."

"He wasn't happy about this one. Did you go?"

"Of course. It was a great opportunity to make it obvious to some people, if they annoy me, I get them arrested. The best chance to settle some score."

"Seriously? You threatened your former classmates with your job? I'm shocked."

"Why?"

"Because that never came to my mind." Sara laughed. "You don't apologize for being a jerk back then, I place some evidence of a murder case in your car, you go down for murder one."

"See, now you can go to your next reunion."

"Yeah, no way, thanks."

"You are not curious to see your favorite crush? See that the popular girl is a messed-up housewife now?"

"No."

"Did you have a favorite crush?"

"Yes and I won't tell you about him. There are some details in my life, that are not your business, Deputy Chief. In fact, a lot of things aren't your business."

"Don't be so close lipped all the time. How about we go out, you're a single, you can go after all the good looking guys in town."

"You really think that's what I want?"

"No."

"Good. And I know another thing: if I ever have to see a therapist, I make damn sure, he or she has no connections to my past."

"Yeah, finding out your therapist is married to the gossip girl from school is quite a shock. I wonder why he didn't protect his files better. It doesn't matter that he thought, she didn't know his clients. It's confidential."

"Some people have no idea what that means. It's like they don't accept you have a private life and don't want to share everything."

"Now, that sounds like familiar to me." Sofia smirked.


	20. Chapter 20

**18. Sheltered **

With a bowl of peanuts Sara sat next to Sofia, who had already two beers in front of her.

"You know how many germs are in these peanuts? Everybody touches them, you have people who came in from the streets, who came from the bathroom without…"

"Keep calm and relax, I asked for a fresh bowl and fresh peanuts. You can leave the germs out and have a couple. These are not a threat to your heath."

"Good. Any thoughts of the case you worked?"

"Yes, if parents are not willing to love their children, they shouldn't have some. This guy, he killed the boyfriend of his son because he didn't want his son to be gay. What did he think? When Carl is gone, his son won't be interested in any other guy anymore? How can somebody be so stupid? And how narrow-minded and full of hate do you have to be to kill the person, your son loves?"

"Our society isn't that open-minded and broad-minded, as would like it to be, the United States are not a place of freedom and liberty for everybody."

"Looks like. How can we expect society to be open-minded when even a father hates his son? For something, that's not wrong."

"This lies in the eyes of the beholder. From a religious view it is wrong."

"Then religion is wrong."

"I'm with you, many people aren't. They say the bible says it's a sin."

"The bible also says some people are meant to be slaves. Are we going back to re-civil times and keep slaves again? It's a book, not proved science, people have developed. We don't rest on the seventh day of the week. If we all do that, a lot of people would be dead because doctors had to rest too." Not to mention cops, which gave criminals a wonderful opportunity to do whatever they felt to do.

"Sara, I'm not saying Dylan or Carl did anything wrong, I'm only saying some people have different opinions. Why a father hates his son for being is something he doesn't approve of, I don't understand. To me it sounds like there is something wrong with the father, nature wants us to love our children. So he's the one, who doesn't act natural."

"He's one of the monsters, Tommy Barnes wants his daughter to be safe of. One of the reasons, why he built this place. Which amazed me." A house underground, a safe place for his daughter. Okay, it was wrong to keep her there like a prisoner, but it was better than killing her.

"I saw photos, he must have spent some time to create it the way it looks now. And he's also a very good example for a loving father. He doesn't try to push his daughter back into their own world, he wants her to explore the world. He really loves her."

"Yes. I'm glad they'll move to a normal city so she can start to have a normal life. It will be hard, she never learnt to socialize with other people, but I'm sure they'll be fine. They have family up there."

"What will happen to Dylan?"

"His confession is bullshit, we all know it. He'll stay with relatives, who are hopefully more open-minded than his father. Whom I wish to become the girlfriend of a mean guy in prison." Not a nice thing to ask for, but this man didn't deserve any better.

"Your wish might become true. Any other wishes, Miss Sidle?"

"Another beer and people, who stop killing each other."

"These are two wishes. You want to be out of work?"

"I'm more than happy to work assaults, B&E and other things. Homicide is something, I don't need in my life."

"Unfortunately, as long as there're human beings, there'll be homicides." Sofia held up their empty glasses to tell the bartender they needed new beer.


	21. Chapter 21

**19. Backfire**

"I wonder what's wrong with families these days. First we have a father killing the boyfriend of his son because he couldn't accept the life of his son, now we have a woman, who ordered a hitman to kill her granddaughter and grandson, in order to protect her son."

"Maybe it's us, who have a wrong thinking of family." Sara suggested ironic. "This woman protected her son; at least she believe, she did so."

"That her son loved his children and would rather die than have anything happen to them, is a point she generously overlooked."

"Yes, it didn't fit into her own, little world."

"You know, sometimes I think, my family isn't that strange at all. Not perfect, definitely with issues, but not that messed-up, like some of the families we come in contact with."

"Can't really say this about my family." Sara made a grimace. With her mother, killing her father, she fit in the profile of the families, she worked with.

"Your mother is ill, she didn't kill your father because he was in love with another woman. It was wrong, she did her time for it, it's not the same."

"Thanks." Sara smiled. It was good to see Sofia thought so, she herself wasn't always this sure. Her life had been complicated and there were a few times, when it could have changed for bad.

"Lash will go to trial, the house invaders are dead, a woman was sexually assaulted. Again we have a case with many victims."

"Don't forget Burt Markell, he died too."

"Yes, how do you see his case? As an accident or was it the fault of his ex girlfriend?"

"The black widow, as Hodges called her? It's the second boyfriend of hers, who died in a very suspicious traffic accident and we're all quite sure, the next boyfriend has good changes to end up dead on the road too. I'm not sure if she does it on purpose, we have no evidence supporting this. Yet."

"He posted a suicide note online because of the break-up. You can't blame her for that, when you break-up with somebody, you don't do it so the other ones commits suicide. I think. She sent the dinner invitation to him instead of her new boyfriend, this made him change his mind and go to hospital. In a weird way, she almost saved his life, without even knowing it." Sofia shook her head. This was a case with many unfortunate actions. "I mean, how could she know, he ate mole poison, changes his mind, drives to hospital, runs out of petrol, gets himself locked in the car and the gases in his stomach reacts with the gasoline, making the car explode. It sounds like a Hollywood movie."

"Not a good one." Sara agreed. "Then again, we often have cases, that sound absolutely unreal, but the evidence tells us, they're real."

"I guess life writes the best and strangest stories."

"Definitely. And like in a good movie, you never know what happens next."

"Whatever it is, one thing is for sure: I see you here next week, to talk about the newest episode of our lives."

"Right." The brunette laughed. "Who would play you, if your life was a Hollywood movie?"

"Somebody sexy, with deep blue eyes and an amazing smile. Scarlett Johansson?"

"She has green eyes. Try Paul Walker."

"Definitely sexy, blue eyes and an amazing smile. I'm not sure how he looks in my dresses, but I'd watch the movie anyway." The blonde giggled. "Who plays you?"

"Well, with you being portrayed by Paul Walker, my part will be played by Vin Diesel. People might not recognize us in the movie, but they'll have great action entertainment and fast cars."

"I'm in for this movie night, this will be a hit." Sofia grinned. Gosh, it felt good to be stupid sometimes.


	22. Chapter 22

**20. Fearless**

"Did you ever go to something like the 'Force of Mind' seminar?" Sofia asked Sara.

"Are you kidding me? My parents were hippies, we lived in this world, I forced my mind to so many things, it's a wonder it's still working. Might be because I stopped attending such events as soon as I was away. What about you?"

"Not really my cup of tea."

"There's no free spirit in you?"

"Oh, my spirit is very free, free of bullshit like this. Maybe it works for some people, maybe it works when you believe in it, to me it's hocus-pocus." She was more a reality person, an evidence woman.

"A kind of hocus-hocus guys like Quinn make millions with." It amazed Sara for what people paid money, how easy it sometimes was, to get money from other people.

"Yeah, we should have learnt this instead of what we did. I feel sorry for Mary." Sofia sighed.

"She lost her husband, the love of her life, and might will lose her life as well. They have no idea if the medication they made, will save her life. I hope so."

"Some people die of a broken heart when their one true love is gone." Did this appear to Sara too? She lost her husband, how stable was she? Although they met regularly, Sofia was not entirely sure the brunette was fine.

"Yeah." Sara bit her lips. "You don't worry about me, do you?" Did she read Sofia's mind?

"Not anymore. Or not that much, sometimes I do. But you talk to me, to your colleagues, you don't hide in your apartment, all good signs. And the guys are also busy checking on you."

"They are."

"You're their sister, they love you, they want to know you're fine. Talking about love, what's the story with Hodge's girlfriend in the mud pool with another man?"

"Apparently he's her brother."

"Yeah sure." What a lame was that? A bath in a mud hot pool with the brother. A brother, she never mentioned before, didn't bother to mention was in Las Vegas. You had to be a total idiot to believe this story, it had LIE written all over it. "How did she explain the different surname?"

"She was married once, for a week, kept the name of her husband. That's why he has a different surname."

"And Santa Claus exists. Come on, they shared a room, I'm sure if somebody had checked the room, there would have evidence of not very sibling behavior. She cheats on him, with the first best man and lies to his face."

Sara didn't believe the story neither, but she wanted people to stay out of her private life, she had to respect their private life too. "They're not married yet and if they get divorced soon after the wedding, she has to go back to Italy."

"If you ask me, I think that would be best for him. I don't trust this woman."

"I never talked to her, Morgan did, and she seems to be skeptical too."

"It will break his heart." And she felt sorry for Hodges; again. First Wendy, now this woman, who apparently had nothing better to do than lie to him, cheat on him. He didn't have a lucky hand when it came to women, no wonder he lived for such a long time with his mother.

"Yes. Gosh, I can't believe we really worry about Hodges." Sara laughed.

"We got used to him. He's one of a kind."

"Oh yes he is. Did you ever walk on fire?"

"No, I'm not into pain."

"Hodges did it in the lab, apparently nothing will happen when you wait for the right moment and walk fast enough."

"I'm prefer safe than sorry. By the way, Jessica is really FBI, I double checked."

"We have the killer, she was off the hook."

"And we had a body in interrogation."

"A suicide. There are plenty to herbal tranquilizer, why do people take drugs?"

"They work faster and she kind of got it for free. Until she paid for it with her life."

"A damn high prize." Sara shook her head. Sometimes she wondered if people were stupid or just didn't care. Not even about their own life.


	23. Chapter 23

**21. Ghost of the past**

"I've to go to San Francisco." Sara said, a bag in her hands. "Sorry, I tried to call you, got only your mailbox."

"An urgent case? Or family?"

"An old SFPD case, a former colleagues contact me, they need my help. A serial killer, I helped to catch and put away, is up for parole and the detective I worked with, wants me to testify against him. Russell gave me a few days off, wants me to take a few personal days too, to clear out my mind."

Which Sofia thought was a good idea. "Will you take them?"

"San Francisco isn't exactly a place with many happy memories."

"Doug?" The blonde wasn't sure if she suggested Doug as a happy memory or as a possibility to get distracted from Las Vegas and her personal problems here. Or both.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. So, we can have one last drink, then I'm gone for a week or so. Will you survive without me?"

"Hardly." The blonde laughed. "I might contact you on your cell phone, have a video conference with you. You know, you're in a bar in Frisco, I'm here."

"You scare me."

"Am I worse than ghosts?"

"Maybe you a re a ghost. Let me check if you have a pulse." Sara tried to grab Sofia's wrist, but the blonde pulled her hand away.

"Don't touch me, you're a ghost buster."

"And you're the green monster? Whatever its name was."

"Somehow I knew you'd say this. Russell is right, you should stay up north for a while."

"Says the one, who will miss me most."

"No, that will be Greg. Which reminds me, we had this case years ago, when he said, his grandmother was a psychic and he inherited it. I was skeptical about this back then, did he come up with it again?"

"He did and this time it might have been the last time. He said, when he was with Pope in the slaughterhouse, he never felt anything. No sign from the ghosts of the dead children, the killer was with him. He realized it himself when Pope's cell phone rang. His wife called. The same sound we had on tape from the second killing."

"Maybe that the cell phone went off was the work of the ghosts?" Sofia offered. "Or it was a coincidence."

"Some people claim there is coincidence."

"Then how would you explain it?"

"Luck? After all, this is Vegas. People get lucky here. Sometimes." Or lose everything, including their life.

"I'm glad he's fine, no matter if it was coincidence, ghosts or luck."

"Me too. Don't want to imagine what happened otherwise." Sara shivered. If Greg had been killed…she had no idea what to do without him. It was one thing to lose her marriage, to lose her best friend was something else. Worse.

"I look after him while you're away."

"Thanks." Sara checked her watch. "I've to go, the plane won't wait for me. I see you in a week or two, keep my colleagues save and stay out of trouble, Deputy Chief."

"Ditto, CSI Sidle. Send me a postcard."

"Maybe." The brunette got up. "Oh, for heaven's sake, come here." She pulled Sofia in her arms. "I see you soon. Thanks for everything."

"Thank you for everything. I really enjoy these meetings and look forward to continue them with you. But it's important you have some time for yourself. Meet old friends, go to old clubs, take a drive to Canada maybe. Anything what makes you happy."

"I will. Don't worry about me. Bye Sofia."

"Bye Sara, have a nice trip." She waved and followed the brunette with her eyes as long as she could. Now Sara was gone and somehow Sofia felt a little bit alone now. She knew Sara would be back, but until she was, she'd miss her.


	24. Chapter 24

**Santa's ear**

I only want you to know, when you feel like talking, or want somebody to listen, or just sit there and have a beer with you, I'm available. Twenty-four/seven. Sofia's words played in Sara's mind over and over. The more she tried to fight them, the more often and louder she heard them. What was wrong with her? She didn't want to tell the blonde about her failed marriage and she certainly didn't need Sofia's pity. Her whole life she dealt with her problems by herself, never bothered somebody else with them, why would she change that? It wasn't like Sofia could offer her a solution.

Nevertheless she ended up in front of a bar off The Strip she knew, the blonde visited frequently. Before she could change her mind or gain control over her feet, she found herself inside the bar. Two dozen people were inside too, most of them sat alone or in groups of two or three, the air wasn't filled with conversations and laughter, the music, not very loud, was the only sound she understood. It looked like people came here for a drink and not to share stories of their lives.

The bartender only glanced at her before he shifted his attention back to the glass, he had been polished. Nobody paid any attention to her, nobody tried to talk to her. On the far left of the bar she saw a familiar back and long blonde hair. Nursing a glass of whiskey and a beer, Sofia seemed to be lost in her own world.

Sara sat next to her without a greeting, signed the bartender, she wanted the same as the blonde and waited until he served her and left them alone.

"Cheers." Sara lifted her glass.

"Cheers." Their glasses clinked and both sipped whiskey quietly. The ice moved around in the glass, shone and reflected the little bit of light, that came from old lamps. Out of the speakers in the corner, The Who asked their listens who are you? Who was she? A simple question: A forensic scientist, still married, but living alone, with work being the center of her life and attention. Was that really her or that what was left of her?

"Christmas is supposed to be the time of the year when you meet your family and spend a few days with them, celebrating, being happy. Somehow I always feel lonely around this time of the year, I don't know why." Sara said quietly. "How can people be happy? Do they have a switch they can switch on for the holidays?" The words just slipped out of her mouth, she didn't want to say them.

"No, they pretend to be happy, it's what is expected from everybody, you get trained to act happy on Christmas when you're a kids and you repeat this every year because it's what you've learnt is right."

"Do you think they're all just pretending?"

"No, some are happy. Families, that reunite for a few days because they live in different places and have no time to see each other over the year. Or when you have a few days off and spend these days with the one you love, without being disturbed by work, it can be wonderful. I believe when you have people you love waiting for you, you don't feel lonely and Christmas can be nice."

"Not having this kind of family shows you how alone you are. It makes you a loser, a person, nobody wants around."

"There's a reason why more people commit suicide around Christmas. Loneliness."

Did she feel lonely? Sometimes. Most times, when the feeling of loneliness crept up on her, she buried herself in work. It took her mind off for a while, but when she fell in her bed, exhausted, the feeling came back and brought her bad sleep or nightmares. Or both.

"Will you celebrate with your parents?"

"Yes, we all work, so we meet afterwards and have dinner together."

Sara thought about that for a while. Dinner after work could mean it's a breakfast, in their line of work, it was impossible to know when you could go home. "I work too. Grissom won't be here." No reaction. Sara sighed and battled with the next words, she didn't want to say, but which seemed to want out badly. "I've never felt this lonely and sad around Christmas like this year. Years ago I didn't care when I was alone, then Grissom and I came together, got married. You can only miss what you know, knowledge increases the pain."

"How good are you with cop talk and beer instead of wine and Christmas stories?"

"Much better than with the latter ones."

"Why don't you join us for our Christmas…dinner, midnight snack, breakfast, whenever we stop working and can go home."

"It's a family thing."

"No, it's food after work with beer and law enforcement as the topic thing. Not a party, no big talker but good beer, food and people, who know how it feels to be married to your job more than to a partner."

"What will your parents say when I show up?" She only met Sofia's mother once or twice at work, never the blonde's father.

"Get a beer, sit down, eat, don't waste time with standing around, there might be a call and we all have to leave for a crime scene."

Sara smiled thinly. This didn't sound too bad. Better than being all alone in her apartment.


	25. Chapter 25

**Santa's Sara**

"Have a beer, grab a slice of pizza, eat, we might have to leave again. Enjoy the chances of an unhealthy breakfast as long as you can." Captain Curtis said after Sara rang the door. The living room was half-hearted decorated, the ugliest Christmas tree Sara had ever seen stood in a corner, a couple of wrapped boxes beneath it.

"Here." Sofia handed Sara a beer and pushed towards a couch, where both sat down. Pizza was on the table, so were sandwiches and cookies. Not a healthy breakfast, not a traditional dish, only what was handy, tasted good and was available. Instead of Christmas music some oldies came out of the speaker.

"Thanks for inviting me." Sara said.

"You're welcome." Sofia's father sat in an armchair, relaxed, watching his wife pacing around. "For Christ's sake, sit down Marie, have a beer, rewind."

"When I sit down I fall asleep."

"Perfect." He pulled his wife on his lap and gave her his beer. "You won't annoy us when you're asleep and when LVPD needs you, the phone is loud enough to wake up the death."

The soft smile in Sofia's corner of the mouth told Sara this scene played every year and it was a kind of tradition. Who needed mistletoes and other common traditions when you had your own ones?

"Give them five minutes and both are asleep. It happens every year. How was work?"

"Bloody. It seems like people come up with extra gruesome ways of murder especially for Christmas. Turn love and peace into hate and murder."

"When I'm not happy other people are also not allowed to be happy." The blonde sighed. Her day had been similar to Sara's. She tried to think of Christmas as of any other day, but it hurt her more to see, what people do to each other. Couldn't there be at least one day in the year, when people were kind to each other?

"Something like that." Sara took another sip of her beer and listened to the music. When she was in high school this song had been a hit. Gosh, her high school songs were oldies, she was old. She was an oldie too. When her attention came to back to now and today, she saw Sofia had been right. Both of her parents were asleep in the armchair, holding each other. That was how Christmas should be, peaceful.

"Now you know how Christmas at the Curtis house is like."

"Peaceful."

"Yeah, when they're asleep they're peaceful. Can I get you anything else? Another beer?"

"No, thanks. What do you usually do when they're asleep?"

"Drink all the beer, eat all the cookies and then go to bed. Boring, eh?"

"I picked you more like the party girl. Going out, dancing, taking somebody home."

"Sorry, I'm not available for those things. Disappointed?"

"No." Sara smiled. "I like a quiet Christmas. There was enough action last night at work."

"It will be the same tonight. Christmas isn't over."

"No." Sara looked at the blonde. "He didn't call but neither did I. Guess when you don't get in contact at Christmas you won't do it at any other time, right?" She didn't have to tell Sofia of whom she spoke, the blonde knew it.

"It's not very likely, sorry."

"Well, it has always been too good to be true." Like a fairytale and fairytales weren't real. Life was.

"You deserve happiness, Sara." Sofia took the hand of the brunette and squeezed it, when the other woman didn't try to pull it back. "It's sad you can't be happy with Grissom but it doesn't mean you can't be happy at all. You'll find somebody else and from what I've heard, friends can also increase your happiness. If you need one, I've got a friend spot available."

"Really?" Sara grinned slightly.

"Yeah, I smiled at the last one, irritated her and she ran into a bus."

Now Sara had to laugh. "That's so not Santa like. What happened to Santa Sofia?"

"Santa Sofia is here, right next to you. Want me to put on my costume?"

"No, you'll make me sit on your lap again and slap my ass when I get up. That's sexual harassment, by the way."

"Only when you don't like it and it won't happen if you stay on my lap. I can't slap your ass when you sit on it."

"So all you want is me sitting on your lap? Interesting, Deputy Chief Curtis."

"It's still Santa Sofia for you. And when you sit on my lap, you'll be Santa's Sara."

Santa's Sara? She wasn't Sofia's Sara, but she was glad she was with the blonde. With Sofia Christmas didn't feel like a burden and she also didn't feel lonely anymore. It was an unusual Christmas party, but it was one, she didn't feel like leaving before it was over. How could she, she was Santa's Sara.

* * *

><p>Merry Christmas to everybody!<p> 


End file.
